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The music festival entitled “A Glow of Ashiqlar” will be held in West Azerbaijan province beginning November 19.

Artists representing the Azeri-resident provinces of West Azerbaijan, Zanjan, East Azerbaijan and Aredbil will be attending the two-day festival, an official of West Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Culture and Islamic guidance Department Manuchehr Zadali mentioned in a press release.The event aims to motivate regional musicians to produce traditional pieces and to boost the art of Ashiqlar and also to prevent the disappearance of this national art, he mentioned.

An Ashiq, also spelled Ashik and Ashug, is a mystic troubadour or traveling bard, who blends together instrumental and vocal music, dance, poetry, and storytelling in his performances.
Ashiqlar originates from the Azerbaijan region’s folk culture and is the favorite of many people who reside in this part of country, he said.
Iran is gathering records on its unique, traditional performing art of Ashiqlar to register it on UNESCO’s List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

The decision to register the artform on the list is independent of the registration by Azerbaijan Republic of their Ashiqlar, which was added to the list recently.
The art of Ashiqlar or Ashiqs, mostly performed by men, is more common in Iran’s northwestern provinces of East Azerbaijan, West Azerbaijan, and Ardebil.

Ashiqs can also be found in Iran’s Central Provinces and Qom Province.
The art is also common in the republic of Azerbaijan and Armenia, which were separated of mainland Iran after a new border was established by the treaties of Golestan (1813) and Turkmenchay (1828) following a series of wars between Iran and the Russian Empire.